Article comprehension in monolingual Spanish-speaking children with developmental language disorder: A longitudinal eye tracking study.

PURPOSE: Article-noun disagreement in spoken language is a marker of children with developmental language disorder (DLD). However, the evidence is less clear regarding article comprehension. This study investigates article comprehension in monolingual Spanish-speaking children with and without DLD. METHOD: Eye tracking methodology used in a longitudinal experimental design enabled the examination of real time article comprehension. The children at the time 1 were 40 monolingual Spanish-speaking preschoolers (20 with DLD and 20 with typical language development [TLD]). A year later (time 2), 27 of these children (15 with DLD and 12 with TLD) were evaluated. Children listened to simple phrases while inspecting a four object visual context. The article in the phrase agreed in number and gender with only one of the objects. RESULT: At the time 1, children with DLD did not use articles to identify the correct image, while children with TLD anticipated the correct picture. At the time 2, both groups used the articles' morphological markers, but children with DLD showed a slower and weaker preference for the correct referent compared to their age-matched peers. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest a later emergence, but a similar developmental trajectory, of article comprehension in children with DLD compared to their peers with TLD.

Development of Clause Complexity in Children with Specific Language Impairment/Language Development Disorder: A Longitudinal Study.

This paper addresses the grammatical challenges associated with the development of clause complexity, focusing on the performance of a group of monolingual Spanish-speaking schoolchildren with Specific Language Impairment/Developmental Language Disorder (SLI/DLD) in a longitudinal corpus of oral narrative samples. The study examines the presence of interclause relations of subordination and equivalence (hypotaxis and parataxis) in language samples of two groups: an experimental group made up of 24 schoolchildren with SLI/DLD and a control group made up of 24 schoolchildren with typical development (TD). The results show that while both groups use parataxis as the most common relation between clauses in all school grades, there is a significant decrease in paratactic relations and a significant increase in hypotactic relations from first to fourth grade of primary education. Although the development patterns are highly similar, the SLI/DLD group shows greater difficulties in mastering more complex (hypotactic) relations in fourth grade compared to the control group, indicating that it is less sophisticated in the use of these types of complex relations. These findings suggest that focused support on the most complex structures is needed towards the fourth grade of primary education, given the demands of the school academic register from 6 and 7 years of age and the potential problems that the development of clause complexity can cause in school-age children.

Online Comprehension of Verbal Number Morphology in Children With Developmental Language Disorder: An Eye-Tracking Study.

PURPOSE: Previous studies have raised the possibility of preserved language comprehension in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) in online tasks and within simple sentence structures. Consequently, we evaluated the capacity of children with DLD to comprehend verbal number agreement in simple sentence structures (i.e., verb-object-subject and verb-subject). METHOD: Using an eye-tracking methodology, we conducted two psycholinguistic experiments with 96 Spanish- and Catalan-speaking participants. The sample was distributed into four groups: 24 children with DLD (age range: 4;6-12;6 [years;months]; average age = 7;8 [years;months]), 24 children with the same chronological age (4;6-12;2, 7;8), 24 children with the same linguistic level (4;6-9;4, 6;8), and 24 university students as language experts (18-30, 22;5). RESULTS: The experimental data indicate that children with DLD can comprehend verbal number agreement at least under the present experimental conditions. CONCLUSION: The empirical outcomes suggest that number morphology comprehension by children with DLD might be more typical than what it is generally considered to be.

Do Children With Developmental Language Disorder Activate Scene Knowledge to Guide Visual Attention? Effect of Object-Scene Inconsistencies on Gaze Allocation.

Our visual environment is highly predictable in terms of where and in which locations objects can be found. Based on visual experience, children extract rules about visual scene configurations, allowing them to generate scene knowledge. Similarly, children extract the linguistic rules from relatively predictable linguistic contexts. It has been proposed that the capacity of extracting rules from both domains might share some underlying cognitive mechanisms. In the present study, we investigated the link between language and scene knowledge development. To do so, we assessed whether preschool children (age range = 5;4-6;6) with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), who present several difficulties in the linguistic domain, are equally attracted to object-scene inconsistencies in a visual free-viewing task in comparison with age-matched children with Typical Language Development (TLD). All children explored visual scenes containing semantic (e.g., soap on a breakfast table), syntactic (e.g., bread on the chair back), or both inconsistencies (e.g., soap on the chair back). Since scene knowledge interacts with image properties (i.e., saliency) to guide gaze allocation during visual exploration from the early stages of development, we also included the objects' saliency rank in the analysis. The results showed that children with DLD were less attracted to semantic and syntactic inconsistencies than children with TLD. In addition, saliency modulated syntactic effect only in the group of children with TLD. Our findings indicate that children with DLD do not activate scene knowledge to guide visual attention as efficiently as children with TLD, especially at the syntactic level, suggesting a link between scene knowledge and language development.

Real time comprehension of Spanish articles in children with developmental language disorder: Empirical evidence from eye movements.

Function words and, more specifically, articles have been widely indicated as one of the main sources of difficulty for children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). The present study is the first to assess the online comprehension of Spanish articles in bilingual children with DLD. In an eye tracking experiment, we monitored participants' eye movements as they listened to Spanish articles embedded in structurally simple sentences. Ninety-six subjects from four different groups were evaluated: 24 children with DLD (average age 7;08), 24 children with the same chronological age (average age 7;08), 24 younger children matched for mean length utterance (average age 6;08), and 24 adults (average age 22;05). We calculated the proportion between the preference for the correct visual referent and a competitor object. Our results suggest that children with DLD are capable of timely comprehension of Spanish articles in real time and within simple sentence structures. However, we observed a strong effect of chronological age in the sample of interest; younger children with DLD are able to identify the correct referent, but this preference is weaker compared to the older children with DLD. We also observed local differences between the DLD group, and the other two children control groups, particularly when the chronological age group is introduced as a factor. These findings suggest a developmental trajectory that is different in the DLD group relative to children with typical language development. Notwithstanding, in spite of the article production difficulties previously reported, children with DLD in the present sample appear to be able to comprehend Spanish articles in the current experimental conditions.

The impact of vocabulary, grammar and decoding on reading comprehension among children with SLI: a longitudinal study.

Predictors of reading comprehension among children with SLI have been rarely studied in Spanish. Even more sparse are longitudinal studies inspecting the evolution of their reading abilities. The aim of the present study is to inspect how decoding, production of grammatical/ungrammatical sentences, production of simple/complex sentences, and vocabulary (measured with two instruments) predict reading comprehension among Spanish-speaking monolingual school-age children with SLI in two grades: 2nd grade and 4th grade. Forty-eight children were recruited for this study, evenly grouped in two conditions: SLI and Typical. Groups were balanced by gender with no differences in months of age. All children were assessed twice: when in 2nd grade and when in 4th grade. Several multiple regression analyses were conducted. Findings revealed differences in terms of which particular predictors significantly impacted reading comprehension in each group. Vocabulary and syntax complexity are the most consistent predictors of reading performance. Decoding predicted reading comprehension performance only in the observed early stage (2nd grade), becoming non-significant over time. Grammaticality was found to have no impact on reading comprehension in both groups. Reported results suggest that vocabulary and complex syntax solidly predict reading comprehension, while decoding and grammaticality play a minor or even negligible role. Thus, interventions designed to improve reading comprehension among children with SLI might benefit from targeting these two particular dimensions of language.

Decodificación y comprensión lectora en escolares con trastorno específico del lenguaje / Decoding and reading comprehension in children with specific language impairment

El objetivo del presente estudio fue describir el desempeño en decodificación y en comprensión lectora de escolares con Trastorno Específico del Lenguaje (TEL). Para ello, se trabajó con 58 niños de 2do básico, distribuidos en dos grupos: uno de 29 escolares con Trastorno Específico del Lenguaje (TEL) y otro de 29 escolares con desarrollo típico (DT). Las habilidades evaluadas fueron decodificación y comprensión lectora. Los resultados generales mostraron que el grupo con TEL presentó un menor desempeño que los niños con DT en ambas habilidades lectoras. Los menores con TEL tendieron a mostrar un mejor rendimiento en decodificación que en comprensión lectora. Respecto a la decodificación, los resultados mostraron que los niños con TEL lograban decodificar palabras comunes y trisilábicas. En cuanto a comprensión lectora, comprendían frases, oraciones y textos. Sin embargo, en el nivel del texto evidenciaron dificultades para responder las preguntas inferenciales y en el reconocimiento de la idea central.

This study was conducted to describe the reading performance of schoolers with Specific Language Impairment (SLI), observing their decoding skills and reading comprehension. A sample of 58 children of a second-grade primary school was studied, evenly grouped in two conditions: SLI and TLD (Typical Language Development). General results show that children with SLI perform lower than children with TLD on decoding and reading comprehension. Results for decoding skills showed that SLI children were able to decode trisyllabic words and common words. As for reading comprehension abilities, children were able to understand phrases, complete sentences, and give a proper title to the texts they read.

Grammaticality and complexity of sentences in monolingual Spanish-speaking children with specific language impairment.

This study examined grammaticality and complexity of sentences in monolingual Spanish-speaking children with specific language impairment (SLI). A group of SLI children (n = 13), mean age 6, was compared to a control group (CCG) matched by age (n = 11), and a younger control group (LCG) with similar linguistic development (n = 13). Grammaticality and complexity of sentences were analysed including identification and counting of: a) simple and complex sentences, b) grammatical and ungrammatical sentences, and c) types of grammatical errors. SLI children were found to be more ungrammatical than CCG in both simple and complex sentences. Considering the number of errors in all sentences produced, SLI children commit more errors than both control groups. Complexity of sentences did not show statistical differences among groups. Future research should explore in further detail the types of errors made by monolingual Spanish-speaking SLI children.

Gramaticalidad y complejidad en narración y conversación en niños con trastorno específico del lenguaje / Grammaticality and complexity in narration and conversation in children with specific language impairment

Introducción. Los niños con TEL evidencian especial dificultad en la gramática, que puede manifestarse de manera diferente en la conversación y en la narración. Objetivos. a) Explorar la influencia del discurso narrativo y del conversacional en el desempeño gramatical de niños con TEL de 4 y 6 años, y b) determinar si el desempeño gramatical de los niños con TEL de 4 y 6 años es similar o diferente al de niños con desarrollo típico del lenguaje (DTL) en discurso conversacional y narrativo. Metodología. Participaron 21 niños con TEL y 19 niños con DTL. Se analizaron 3 narraciones, obtenidas a partir del recontado, y una conversación semiespontánea. Los análisis se efectuaron según 2 parámetros: gramaticalidad y complejidad de las oraciones. Resultados. La comparación entre conversación y narración en los niños con TEL permite concluir que el tipo de discurso incide en su desempeño gramatical. La forma en que ambos discursos afectan a dicho desempeño se manifiesta de modo distinto en los grupos etarios estudiados. Se observó que el desempeño gramatical de los grupos con TEL tiende a estar más disminuido que el de los grupos con DTL en ambos discursos, especialmente en la narración. Discusión y conclusiones. Los resultados encontrados sugieren que el discurso narrativo es más apropiado para abordar la agramaticalidad y la complejidad de las oraciones, debido a su mayor demanda lingüística. En cambio, la conversación, por ser un discurso menos exigente lingüísticamente, puede ser utilizada para apoyar a niños con TEL que evidencian una dificultad gramatical severa (AU)

Introduction. Children with specific language impairment (SLI) show a particular difficulty with grammar, which can be differently manifested in conversation and narration. Objectives. a) To explore the influence of narrative and conversational discourse in the grammatical performance of children with SLI, divided into two groups (4 and 6 years-old), and b) to determine whether the grammatical performance of 4 and 6 years-old children with SLI is different from children with typical language development (TLD) in conversational and narrative discourse. Method. The study included 21 children with SLI and 19 children with TLD. Three narratives obtained from a re-telling task and semi-spontaneous conversations were analysed according to two parameters: grammaticality and complexity. Results. Comparison between conversation and narration in children with SLI showed that the type of discourse affects grammatical performance. The way in which both types of discourse affect grammatical performance differs according to age. Grammatical performance of children with SLI tends to be lower than children with DTL in both types of discourse, especially in the narrative. Discussion and conclusions. Results suggest that narrative is more appropriate to address the ungrammaticality and complexity of sentences, due to its greater linguistic demand. Since conversation is a less demanding task, it can be used to support children with SLI that show severe grammatical difficulties (AU)

Association between temporal resolution and Specific Language Impairment: The role of nonsensory processing.

INTRODUCTION: Many authors have suggested that a perceptual auditory disorder involving temporal processing is the primary cause of Specific Language Impairment (SLI). The aim of this study was to compare the performance of children with and without SLI on a temporal processing task controlling for the confounding of verbal short-term memory and working memory. METHOD: Thirty participants with SLI aged 6 years were selected, along with 30 age- and gender-matched participants with typical language development. The Adaptive Test of Temporal Resolution (ATTR) was used to evaluate temporal resolution ability (an aspect of temporal processing), and the digit span subtest of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children was used to evaluate auditory short-term memory and working memory. RESULTS: The analysis of covariance showed that children with SLI performed significantly worse than children with typical language development on the temporal resolution task (ATTR), even when controlling for short-term memory and working memory. Statistically significant correlations between ATTR and digit span were found for the group of children with SLI but not for the children with typical language development. CONCLUSION: Children with SLI showed significantly worse temporal resolution ability than their peers with typical language development. Such differences cannot be attributed solely to the immediate memory deficit associated with SLI.

Comprensión oral de discursos expositivos y narrativos en niños con problemas en comprensión lectora / Oral comprehension of expositive and narrative discourses in children with reading comprehension problems

Los discursos orales narrativo y expositivo son de gran importancia para el aprendizaje escolar. Los niños con problemas en comprensión lectora pueden presentar descendido el manejo de estos discursos. Por lo tanto, es probable que estos menores evidencien un rendimiento escolar deficitario. En nuestro medio existe poca información sobre el desempeño en comprensión oral y niños con dificultades lectoras. Por ello, el propósito de este trabajo es presentar evidencia relacionada con la comprensión de discursos narrativos y expositivos (de tipo descriptivo) orales en niños con problemas en comprensión lectora. Los resultados indican que estos menores presentan un desempeño descendido en la comprensión de discursos narrativos y expositivos (de tipo descriptivo).

Lenguaje figurado y manejo de nexos en adolescentes con déficit en el discurso y bajo rendimiento escolar / Figurative language and connectors development in adolescents with discourse difficulties and low academic achievement

Los objetivos del trabajo son conocer: a) si el manejo de nexos y la comprensión del lenguaje figurado se relacionan con el discurso y el rendimiento escolar en los jóvenes, y b) si los adolescentes con dificultades en el discurso y bajo rendimiento escolar presentan problemas en el lenguaje figurado y en lños nexos. Se trabajó con 40 alumnos de enseñanza media, 20 con bajo rendimiento escolar y déficit en el discurso (grupo en estudio) y 20 con buen desempeño escolar y sin problemas discursivos (grupo control). Se evaluó el manejo de nexos y la comprensión de lenguaje figurado y se constató que ambos se correlacionan con el discurso y con el rendimiento escolar de los adolescentes. Además, los estudiantes con bajo desempeño escolar y dificultades discursivas presentan rendimientos significativamente inferiores en los nexos y el lenguaje figurado. Se concluye que estos jóvenes evidencian un déficit en el desarrollo lingüístico que puede incidir en su desempeño escolar.

La escritura en niños con trastorno específico de lenguaje desde una perspectiva psicogenética / The handwriting in children with specific language disorder from a psychogenetic perspective

El propósito del presente trabajo es conocer el desempeño escrito que tienen los niños con Trastorno Específico del Lenguaje (TEL). Este estudio se basa en la Teoría Psicogenética que propone que el lenguaje escrito comienza a desarrollarse en etapas previas a su enseñanza formal. Se confeccionó una pauta que incluye una serie de tareas para elicitar la escritura y criterios que permiten analizarla. Se compararon las producciones escritas de niños con TEL expresivo con las realizadas por niños sin problemas de lenguaje. Los resultados indican que los niños con TEL expresivo presentan un desarrollo similar al del grupo control, pero más lento. Además, se observó que los niños con TEL que tenían dificultades en la fonología y en la morfosintaxis evidenciaban un desempeño inferior en la escritura que los menores que solo presentaban trastorno fonológico.

Caracterización, análisis y estimulación del discurso narrativo en niños con trastorno específico del lenguaje / Characterization, analysis and improving of the narrative discourse in children with specific language impairment

Es conocido que los niños con TEL presentan un desempeño narrativo deficitario que no siempre es detectado oportunamente. Estas dificultades pueden incidir de modo importante en su futuro desempeño lingüístico y escolar. El propósito de este trabajo es presentar una sintesis de diversas investigaciones sobre el tema, efectuadas en la Escuela de Fonoaudiología de la Universidad de Chile. Así, se describe el desarrollo narrativo de niños con TEL, alumnos de escuelas de lenguaje; se presentan procedimientos para analizar las narraciones de estos niños y se reseñan algunas experiencias terapéuticas que permiten estimular el discurso narrativo

El discurso narrativo en niños con transtorno específico del lenguaje / The narrative speech in children with specific language disorders

Se propone complementar la semiología lingüística de los niños con TEL incorporando el discurso por su naturaleza semántica y pragmántica. Por ello, el propósito del presente trabajo es efectuar una primera aproximación en nuestro medio a las características del discurso narrativo en niños con TEL. Se trabaja con 20 niños con TEL, grado moderado, con una edad promedio de 5 años y un grupo control de niños con desarrollo normal del lenguaje. Se evalúa la superestructura narrativa y los tipos de coherencia causal en tres cuentos infantiles elicitados por recontado. Los resultados evidencian que los niños con TEL presentan un manejo deficitario del discurso narrativo tanto en los aspectos formales como en las relaciones de coherencia causal. Se destaca la importancia de que el fonoaudiólogo considere el déficit en el discurso narrativo en los niños con TEL, debido a la implicancia que tiene en el futuro desempeño escolar